In the past, log splitters utilized a hydraulic cylinder having a relatively long stroke to drive one end of a log against a wedge to split the log. Particularly long strokes were required for elm logs, which are difficult to split, and, therefore, general purpose log splitters of the prior art have been relatively long, cumbersome, heavy, and expensive.
The principal object of this invention is to provide a general purpose log splitter which is significantly shorter, smaller, less expense, and lighter than those heretofore known in the art, but which has a long over-all effective stroke and is at least as effective in splitting logs as the more expensive and bulky prior art log splitters.